SCOTUSblog

Symposium: Ideology, partisanship, and the new “one person, one vote” case

Richard L. Hasen is a Chancellor’s Professor of Law at the University of California, Irvine School of Law. He blogs at Election Law Blog. It is tempting to think of the plaintiffs in Evenwel v. Abbott as conservatives. After all, the…

Seeking to overturn a major setback in its power to punish trading of stocks based on insider tips, the Obama administration on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to revive one of the highest profile prosecutions in years on Wall Street.…

Richard H. Pildes is the Sudler Family Professor of Constitutional Law at NYU. As soon as the Court decided to hear Evenwel, a barely suppressed anger emerged in many quarters, on grounds of both process and substance. On process: how dare…

Here's a nice, short, and equitable opinion.Justice Rothschild holds that even though the relevant case law is sparse, and even though there's a provision in the Family Code that says that family law cases are otherwise treated like any other…

The only thing that the California Supreme Court did today was noncontroversial (albeit unusual).Yet I think that what the Court did is squarely impermissible.Part of it I'm fine with. The Court of Appeal issued an published opinion in…

It takes a village to fight about a road. Or lack thereof.Around a third of National Forest Service lands are inventoried roadless areas; i.e., deliberately don't have roads. That way they're wild. Really wild. Of…

Confirm Them

LifeCell 30 Day Free Trial – How Good Is It Really? Is it even possible to pass up a free trial on the latest anti-ageing product, that just so happens to be taking Hollywood by storm? Well I didn’t think so, which is why I…

Southern District of Florida Blog

How do you cite document numbers? Before you answer, let me explain what I’m talking about.The federal judiciary has a system that allows users to file documents in cases electronically—the Case Management/Electronic Case Files…

Let’s first throw back to Freddy’s post on the Wollschlaeger v. Florida decision, which held constitutional a law restricting what doctors can say to their patients about guns. Yesterday First Amendment scholar Eugene Volokh wrote…

Nearly a year to the day after issuing its original decision, a panel of Judges Tjoflat, Wilson, and Coogler vacated and substituted its opinion in Wollschlaeger v. Governor of the State of Florida. The ACLU reacted (as a disclaimer, my firm…

A three-judge panel affirmed the conviction of a Cleveland attorney for conspiring with prominent Cleveland attorney Anthony O. Calabrese III, and another attorney to offer cash settlements to women who accused their client of rape, in…

Conflicting rulings in Cuyahoga County regarding indictments based on the long-delayed opening of older, untested rape kits led the appellate court there to have all of its judges weigh in on how to assess claims that other evidence lost over…

Second District: Police Permitted to Peak Over Stall Door to Make Restroom Arrest

A suspected drug user was entitled to privacy when he entered a Wal-Mart bathroom stall, but police had grounds to peak in on him after determining he wasn’t using the space for its intended purpose, an Ohio appeals court ruled.

Over at Twitter, Mike Sacks posted an interesting question about the agreement rate between Justices Scalia and Thomas during October Term 2012: Is it me, or have Thomas and Scalia been on opposite sides a lot more this term than in the past?…

In my last post, I provided a list of the top Supreme Court advocates of the twenty-first century who had never worked in the Office of the Solicitor General. As a comment on that post mentions, some who made my list had previous experience…

I have a new Article out in the Journal of Legal Metrics entitled Top Supreme Court Advocates of the Twenty First Century. You can download the article here here. This Article identifies the Supreme Court litigators who have argued at least…

Following the Supreme Court's opinion in Octane Fitness changing the standard for award of attorneys fees under Section 285 in patent cases, 285 motions have become significantly more prevalent, providing a vehicle for judicial review of both…

Infringement Expert Disqualified Due To Prior Retention By Opposing Party

In Mobile Telecomm's Technologies, LLC v. LG Elec's Mobilecomm USA, Inc., 2:13cv947 (7/22/15) the defendant moved to disqualify the plaintiffs infringement expert, noting that the expert had been retained by the defendant to serve as it's…

Yesterday, Judge Gilstrap granted defendant Newegg's motion for judgment as a matter of law as to noninfringement in this case (the court stated that it was carrying rulings on the motion as it was directed to validity and damages and...

Ninth Circuit Blog

US v. Mark, No. 13-10579 (7-31-15)(Friedland and Murguia; concurrence by McKeown). If the gov't promises immunity, it cannot then prosecute absent proof of a violation of the deal. In this case, the defendant was promised immunity for…

US v. Willis, Jr., No. 13-30377 (July 29, 2015)(Ikuta with Fisher and Paez). In a SR violation, what is the approach to determining whether uncharged criminal conduct is a "Crime of Violence" for grading purposes? It is an issue of…

US v. Carter, No. 13-50164 (7-28-15)(Melloy with Bybee and Ikuta). A defendant, changing his plea, is taking medication. What is the extent of the inquiry the court needs to make under Fed R Crim P. 11? The 9th, affirming the…

Statutory Rape Under New York Penal Law Section 130.40-2 Is Not Categorically a "Crime of Violence"

United States v. Van Mead, No. 12-4054-cr (2d Cir. Dec. 8, 2014) (Livingston, Lohier, and Stein), available hereSection 130.40-2 of New York's Penal Law provides that "[a] person is guilty of criminal sexual act in the third degree when . . .…

Miscalculation Of Mandatory Minimum That “Has An Impact” On Sentence Is Plain Error

United States v. Sanchez, No. 11-2429-CR (2d Cir. Dec. 4, 2013) (Cabranes, Straub, and Livingston), available hereDefendant pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute more than 1 kilogram of heroin, in violation of 21 U.S.C.…

If I told you the facts of this case, could you predict the outcome? The plaintiff was late for her flight, and when the airport people told her her luggage was already on board, she got upset. "By Baez’s own account, Baez then made…

Court tells us how to make out a prima facie case of racial discrimination in employment

The Second Circuit does not reverse summary judgment in racial discrimination cases too often. It does so in this case, finding that plaintiff makes out a prima facie case of discrimination.The case is Tolbert v. Smith, decided on June 24.…

Under the Food Stamp Act, the government must give benefits within 30 days of the application and within seven days for especially needy households. Can plaintiffs sue a state to enforce these time limits under Section 1983? The Court of…

What the power of positive thinking may have begun to lose by the late 1990s in terms of political stridency, it gained in terms of biomedical responsibility. More than anything else, this respectability was gained through the increasingly…

During the War When my brother came home from war he carried his left arm in a black sling but assured us most of it was still there. Spring was late, the trees forgot to leaf out. I stood in a long line waiting…

The following provocative policy proposals are found in Anthony B. Atkinson’s book, Inequality: what can be done?(Harvard University Press, 2015): 303-304. 1. The direction of technological change should be an explicit concern of…

Haskell v. Harris, case number 10-15152 has been ordered to be re-argued before the en banc court the week of December 19, 2013 in San Francisco.
The case involves a challenge to California’s Proposition 69, which was passed…

Underneath Their Robes

Never in her wildest dreams did Article III Groupie imagine that she'd be the author of a well-reviewed novel boasting blurbs from the likes of Chief Judge Alex Kozinski and Judge Richard A. Posner. What more could a girl ask...

Article III Groupie has a new project. If you would be interested in reading about a young lawyer's quest to join the ranks of the Elect, i.e., to secure a Supreme Court clerkship, check out the link below.
Preface [Supreme Ambitions]

Douglas Hubert was on parole and living with his grandfather when his grandfather called Hubert's parole officer to report that Hubert had violated numerous conditions of his parole, including possessing a firearm. Hubert's parole officer…

Today's DJ profiles Judge Michelle Friedland and notes that "Next year she plans to move her chambers to the Robert F. Peckham Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in San Jose, .... Architectural planning is under way to convert part of the…

Congrats to Susan Soong, who will be the next Clerk of Court for the Northern District, replacing Clerk Richard Wieking! Details here and below:The Court is pleased to announce that it has selected Susan Y. Soong to be the next Clerk of…

"Stark transgression against the norms of any decent and civilized society" AND bad briefing

Here's today's case of "staggering hubris" and not just because of pro se "Appellate Irregularities."How often have thought this about a brief?The brief also fails to articulate separate arguments under separate headings, as required by…

A Day in the Life...Community Service from the Perspective of a Resource Coordinator

Jeffrey Seplowe, BCS Resource Coordinator, in the grey shirtAs a Resource Coordinator I am usually stationed in courtrooms, providing alternative sanction recommendations to judges that include but are not limited to community service, social…

Hi everyone,On July 21, BCS participated in the annual Harmony Day Picnic, a success event by NYPD at Van Cortland Park. The goal of Harmony Day is to provide a place for police officers and the community to come together to enjoy a warm day…

Preparing for a mural to go up on the 177th Street BridgeOn June 18, 2015, BCS Community Service was invited to participate in the first stages of a graffiti removal/mural project by priming the East 177th Street Bridge, between the Bronx…

In People v. Lockridge, No. 149073, the Michigan Supreme Court declared the Michigan Sentencing Guidelines unconstitutional as they are currently used. The Court held that, based on decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court in Apprendi v. New…

COA: Parolees are not immune from prosecution for prison escape under MCL 750.193

In People v. McKerchie, No. 321073, the Michigan Court of Appeals clarified that a defendant who escapes from a facility, where he was placed as a condition of his parole, can be found guilty of both a parole violation and a separate charge…

Martinez v. Ryan does not apply to excuse procedural default caused by attorney error at the state collateral appeal stage.

In Norris v. Brooks,No. 13-4448, the Court addressed a Rule 60(b) motion filed by a 2254 habeas petitioner who claimed that the case of Martinez v. Ryan, 132 S.Ct. 1309 (2012), called for the reopening of his federal habeas petition,…

Doyle Error Not Harmless in Credibility Contest Between Cooperator and Accused

In United States v.Jace Edwards, No. 14-4088, the Court remands for a new trial following the government's concession that the trial prosecutor had violated the constitutional rule of Doyle v. Ohio, 426 U.S. 610 (1976). As restated in…

In United States v.Fountain, Nos. 13-3023 &c., the Court finds occasion to clarify the elements of extortion under “color of official right” within the meaning of the Hobbs Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1951. The three…

Sixth Circuit Blog

Some days -- and even weeks -- you have to dig pretty hard to find a case that addresses an interesting issue in criminal law in the Sixth Circuit. Other days, such as last Friday, the corn is as high as an elephant's eye.…

In United States v. Lee, the Sixth Circuit held that a tip that there were possible weapons at a parolee's house was insufficient to provide reasonable suspicion to allow a search of the residence. Under the Court's "parolee search"…

The Sixth Circuit, in an opinion written (perhaps coincidentally) by Judge Sutton, reversed a conviction for transmitting threats in interstate commerce (18 U.S.C. § 875(c)) because the judge instructed the jury that it needed only to…

In the last post we looked at Highlight #1, V.E. Day, winning the Travers.
Let move on.
Highlight # 2
Itsmyluckyday, winning the Woodward
The Woodward, year after year one of America's premiere races--and my favorite--for 3 year olds and up,…

Supreme Court

Supporters of gay marriage rally in front of the Supreme Court in Washington June 25, 2015. An Associated Press-GfK poll found that people in the US are evenly divided over the Supreme Court case that made same-sex marriage legal nationwide.…

Rodrigo Zamora (L) and Ashby Hardesty exit the New York City clerks office after their wedding in Manhattan in New York June 26, 2015. Photo by Brendan McDermid/ReutersWASHINGTON — Attorney General Loretta Lynch says the government will…

Watch VideoJUDY WOODRUFF: And, as we do every Friday, we turn to the analysis of Shields and Brooks. That’s syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks, who joins us today from Aspen, Colorado.
So,…

In Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart& Shipley, P.A. v. State (4D13-3497), a divided panel of the Fourth District held that the "guardianship court’s decision to recognize the Legislature’s prerogative of limiting the payment of…

In North Broward Hospital District et al v. Kalitan (4D11-4806), a panel of the Fourth District Court of Appeal concluded that a 2014 decision of the Florida Supreme Court required it to conclude that the legislative caps on non-economic…

Florida Statute That Taxed Cable And Satellite Service At Different Rate Violates Dormant Commerce Clause

In Directv Inc., et al v. Florida Department of Revenue, et al (1D13-5444 & 1D14-0292), a divided three judge panel of the First District Court of Appeal held that Florida's imposition of a higher tax on satellite customers than on cable…

On June 22, 2015, the Supreme Court decided Kingsley v. Hendrickson. The central question in this case was whether, to prove an excessive force claim brought by a pretrial detainee against several jail officers, the detainee must show…

On June 18, 2015, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Davis v. Ayala. The issue in this case was whether Ayala was entitled to federal habeas relief because the judge in his capital murder trial, when responding to Ayala’s…

On June 29, 2015, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Glossip v. Gross. This case concerned three questions. The first was whether it is constitutional for a state to execute an inmate by administering a three-drug protocol in which…

Education blogger Jim Horn, who doesn't let accuracy interfere with his eagerness to condemn charter schools, has yet another post decrying KIPP and similar schools for being eugenicist. He claims that what's going on is "cultural and…

In discussions over poverty and education policy in the United States, it is common to see international comparisons. These comparisons usually make the United States look quite bad -- i.e., 21% of our children are in poverty compared to 4%…

In a recent post, Diane Ravitch decries the fact that Chicago charters expel a higher percentage of kids than do the other public schools: The data reveal that during the last school year, 307 students were kicked out of charter schools,…

Joel Jacobsen

When was America discovered (by humans)?
Not 1492, when Columbus sailed the ocean blue. First there were the people from eastern Asia, of course, who arrived many thousands of years ago. Lately there's some renewed debate about exactly…

It's been a refreshing nap. But now I think it's time to get back to blogging.
I came very close to burning through my remaining stock of idealism by writing Judging Crimes.
Practicing law means chasing trivialities in the pursuit of…

The Chicago gun control decision was a great liberal triumph, the culmination of nearly 50 years of such triumphs. It shows the wonderful influence William Brennan continues to exert beyond the grave. (See post 365.)

This question I would rate as a fastball. There are a lot of issues to fly through, but they are the same issues tested in virtually every Wills question since 1980. If you studied the California Probate Code (CPC) you probably did fine.…

Question 3: Can I get a witness? (California Evidence) California Bar Exam

This is the first of three criminal questions on this test, the most in recent memory since criminal subjects are rarely tested compared to torts and constitutional law. This question is probably to calibrate the testing group…

Question Four: Who wants to be a Dental Hygienist (Contracts, Remedies)

Question Four is a pretty standard contracts and remedies question. I score this one as a curveball because you have to untangle the contract mess in order to get to the remedies question. I provided a pair of pretty good strategies for…

European Court of Human Rights

Turkish artillery hit targets near Syria’s Tel Abyad border town for a second day on Thursday, killing several Syrian soldiers according to activists and security sources, after a mortar bomb fired from the area killed five Turkish…

Well, I have left private practice and have taken a job with the US Attorney's Office. In light of my career change, this blog is shutting down. Thanks to everyone who dropped by for the latest SC legal news. Merry Christmas.

"No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been increased during…

From the Greenville News:William W. “Billy” Wilkins successfully argued against a motion in a shareholder suit against South Financial that asked for a temporary restraining order barring retirement payments to retired CEO Mack Whittle as…

Supreme Court of Vermont Law Blog

From the shameless-self-promotion deskSCOV Law has been nominated for this Best Legal Blogs contest. We work hard to keep you entertained, so if you would kindly click on the link and toss us a nomination, we'd appreciate it. Thanks!Best…

State v. Provost, 2014 VT 86ABy Andrew DelaneyThis is an amended opinion. If you notice a few similarities between this summary and last year’s you’re probably not alone. The amended opinion issues based on Mr. Provost’s…

Arapaho Owners Association Inc. v. Alpert, 2015 VT 93 By Elizabeth KruskaYou just know you’re in for a good SCOV (or any court) opinion when it starts with “[t]he case began its journey through the legal system . . .”…

Legal Legacy

August 1, 1834 – Slavery Officially Abolished Throughout [Most of] the British Empire

The Slavery Abolition Act was an 1833 Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom abolishing slavery throughout most of the British Empire (with the exceptions “of the Territories in the Possession of the East India Company,” the…

This set, as the subtitle reads, of “20 Stories of Espionage, Sabotage, Defiance, and Rescue” is a collection of stories for young readers about largely forgotten women who served in some capacity to help America’s cause in…

July 28, 1943 – President Franklin Roosevelt Announces the End of Coffee Rationing

Coffee had been rationed during World War II because most of the coffee in the U.S. came from Latin America. But all available ships were being diverted to the war effort and moreover, and German U-boats were patrolling the shipping lanes and…

Almost three and a half years after granting review (and also calendar preference) and after the maximum 90 days following oral argument on the early-May calendar, the Supreme Court on Monday will file its opinion in Sanchez v. Valencia…

Back from summer break — a break, that is, just from oral arguments — the Supreme Court will hear five cases on its September calendar. On September 2, in San Francisco, the court will hear the following cases (with the issue…

Proposal would leave review-granted Court of Appeal opinions on the book

Rule 8.1105(e)(1) provides that a published Court of Appeal opinion becomes depublished — and thus no longer citeable as precedent — when the Supreme Court grants review in the case. After granting review, the Supreme Court…

Nominate Gavel to Gavel for ABA Journal’s Top 100 law blogs of 2015; deadline 8/16/15!

Thanks to your support Gavel to Gavel the blog has been named one of the ABA Journal Top 100 Blawgs (law blogs) three years in a row. The ABA Journal is seeking nominations again this year starting today and running through Friday, Aug. 16,…

Bans on court use of sharia/international law: Enacted in Mississippi; activity in 6 other states; WV considered ban on court use of “karma”

2015 saw some 32 pieces of legislation introduced in 17 states to ban or limit the use by state courts of foreign or international law. Of these, Mississippi saw after 5+ years of trying the enactment of such a ban. HB 177 provides in…

The Kentucky Court of Appeals announced 26 decisions on July 17, 2015, with 2 of their opinions designated to be published. Click here for links to all the archived AOC Court of Appeals minutes at the web site…

No arguments scheduled by the Supreme Court of Kentucky for July 2015. The Silver Bridge was an eyebar-chain suspension bridge built in 1928 and named for the color of its aluminum paint. The bridge connected Point Pleasant, West Virginia,…

AsktheJudge.info

13-year old sticks up for younger brother and helps others with bullie

When Matthew Kaplan was 13 and in middle school in Arizona, he noticed that his younger brother, Josh, had become quieter and spent more time alone. After some questioning, he discovered that Josh was being bullied at school by kids he…

Do your parents oppose you being vaccinated for personal or religious reasons? Too bad says California governor Jerry Brown. California has become the largest state to legally require all school children to be vaccinated unless there are…

Every now and then, you hear about an elderly person in court facing criminal charges. It may be for something like shoplifting or negligence while driving. However, even seventy years after World War II, participants in the Holocaust are and…

Supreme People's Court Monitor

Environmental public interest litigation in the Qingdao maritime court

Chinese maritime courts, which primarily hear maritime commercial cases, also have jurisdiction over maritime pollution cases. This short blogpost provides a brief update on the first public interest environmental case filed in the…

The topic of the Supreme People’s Court and the interpretation of law is one that vexes many, including legal practitioners and academics alike. Although the Chinese constitution vests the power to interpret law with the Standing…

JUDICIAL &amp; LEGAL WRITING: The Number One Rule for Improving = CUTTING (15-14)

There is a myriad of publications and articles dedicated to the improvement of legal writing. Unfortunately, in many of these materials, you need an English degree to understand anything past the first paragraph. There is, however, a simple…

IMMIGRANT CRIME VICTIMS &amp; U-VISA CERTIFICATION: What it is and Why Should Judges Care? Ten facts that every judge (and attorney/officer) should know (15-13)

U-VISA CERTIFICATION: In every judge’s career there will likely come a time when they are asked to sign a U-visa certificate on behalf of a noncitizen crime victim. The decision whether or not to sign the U-visa certificate is…

THE PROBLEM: In a perfect world judges make decisions by applying legal analysis to the facts of a case in a rational, fair and deliberate manner. But in the real world, we know that judges, despite their best efforts, are ……

Kristen Larson | In Graham v. Florida, 560 U.S. 48 (2010), the Supreme Court of the United States held that a Florida law which allowed juveniles to be sentenced to life without parole for nonhomicide crimes was unconstitutional. The Court

This post features the video and slides for the eighth and final lecture in my Appellate Practice and Procedure course. The presentation appears after the jump. Appellate law can be a very difficult practice area to break into. Because legal…

I received a copy of this letter in one of my cases: What’s wrong with using the short citation form “id.” when citing the record? As I wrote about here, the Fifth Circuit recently standardized the format for citing…

This post features the video and slides for the seventh lecture in my Appellate Practice and Procedure course, which I introduced here. The presentation appears after the jump. How do you convince an appellate court to change its mind when…